Parent & Family Engagement Plan

From Page 39 of the Bulloch County HandbookTitle I Services
Title I, Part A is funded by the federal government under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The purpose of Title I under the ESSA is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. While the ESSA has many requirements, there is a strong focus throughout the law on parent and family engagement notification and involvement, particularly as it relates to the following:
• Ensuring that high-quality academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging State academic standards so that students, teachers, parents and administrators can measure progress against common expectations for student academic achievement.
• Affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.
• 2018-2019 Georgia Department of Education’s Systemic Family Engagement Handbook.

PARENT & FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PLAN
The Bulloch County Board of Education encourages parents, guardians and families to become involved in their child’s education to ensure the child’s academic success.

Bulloch County Schools puts into operation programs, activities, and procedures for the involvement of parents, guardians and families in all of its schools with Title I, Part A programs, consistent with section 1116 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These programs, activities, and procedures are planned and operated with meaningful consultation with parents of participating children.

Parental involvement means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities. Bulloch County Schools takes the following actions to involve parents in the joint development of its district wide parental involvement plan under section 1114 (b) of the ESSA:
● Conducts an annual fall meeting to inform parents/guardians of school’s Title I participation and to discuss the Title I program (PTO);
● Involves parents/guardians in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s Title I program and Parent & Family Engagement Plan through the annual evaluation of the Title I program conducted each year during programs, participation on the Title I Advisory Council, use of parent surveys, memberships on committees, school wide planning teams, school councils, and involvement in developing the school’s improvement plan;
● Creates a District Parent Advisory Council to provide advice on matters related to the Parent & Family Engagement Plan supported by Title I funds;
● Adopts district model approaches to improving parent and family engagement at the school level;
● Allocates district resources to parent and family engagement activities;
● Provides a Family Liaison Coordinator for Title I schools;
● Develops and maintains a parent and family engagement website;
● Meets with parenting personnel from Head Start, Pre-K and the English Language Assistance Programs to collaborate while planning for parent workshops when feasible;
● Conducts other activities and establishes as parent resource center in all Title I schools to encourage and support parents and families to be more fully engaged in the education of their child;
● Communicates with parents and families in a format and language that they can understand;

● Invites families and preschool children into the schools to visit, have lunch, and participate in planned activities;
● Provides to parents and families, as appropriate, information to help them understand the State’s academic content standards, the State’s student academic achievement standards, and the State and local academic assessments including alternate assessments;
● Provides parents with timely information about the Title I program through parent meetings, the school website and newsletters throughout the school year.